Temerloh Umno committee member Zainuddin Izarul has ticked off his boss, Temerloh MP Saifuddin Abdullah, for not embracing the government's claim that international funder George Soros is  plotting to set up a puppet regime in Malaysia.

"Saifuddin comments are just aimed at seeking attention and is very populist," he was quoted as saying in a report by Umno-linked newspaper New Straits Times today.

NONE He was responding to Saifuddin who on Thursday had said that he was more keen on promoting BN than on demonising the opposition as it may  backfire on the government.

"That's why I am not keen on attacking Soros or Suaram," Saifuddin ( right ) who is also deputy Higher Education Minister had said.

However, Zainuddin in the report accused Saifuddin of going against party lines, failing to differentiate the meaning between pro-government statements and supporting organisations strongly opposed to the government.

He accused Saifuddin, who is Temerloh Umno division deputy chief, of neglecting his constituency.

"I believe he is sabotaging his own career as a member of Parliament abandoning his duties to the voters.

"He should be meeting the voters in the mornings and afternoons, but I rarely see him anymore, " he was quoted as saying.

The mainstream media, Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia in particular, had in the past weeks led a relentless campaign against Suaram and other members of civil society for allegedly being funded by Soros-linked organisations, with front-page reports accusing them of being collaborators a plot to topple the government.

pm open house 190812 najib However, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak yesterday admitted that he had met the widely-demonised Soros privately two years ago in New York.

The admission found its way to Utusan's page-3 report today, buried in the last three paragraphs of a story under the heading: "Opposition cabinet prove of cronynism".

Khairy blasts Kedah dress code

Meanwhile, according to The Star, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin rapped the Alor Setar City Council (MBAS) dress code ruling for models appearing on billboards in PAS-ruled Kedah.

"I'm sure that in other parts of Malaysia, models need to be appropriately dressed for billboard advertisements. Why does the council need to have more rulings?

"This shows that PAS is encroaching upon the rights of non-Muslims and it is alarming," he was quoted as saying.

The rule would require Muslim models on billboards to don headscarfs while non-Muslim models must be dressed "decently".

City mayor Mat Noh Ahmad today denied that it was a ruling, merely advice.